The Holy Spirit is making many of His children aware of what's coming. We're commanded to watch (Mark 13:37), and through the Spirit those watching WILL know when the Tribulation is near:

"So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." (Matthew 24:33)

The word "know" in this verse is "ginosko". It's a prolonged form of a primary verb which means to know absolutely. We see all these prophetic news events so the Spirit is telling us to look up, the Tribulation draws near. Keep in mind that our redemption takes place at the Rapture which is a signless event (Mark 13:32) and which precedes the Tribulation, so if we're seeing Tribulation events beginning to be set in place, the Rapture is closer.

Also, prophetic events are occurring more frequently. The events leading up to the Tribulation escalate as birth pains do to a woman in labor:

"For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." (1 Thessalonians 5:3)

But we are not in darkness! We see the events taking place and that day, the Tribulation, will not overtake us:

"But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." (1 Thessalonians 5:4)

I've noticed recently how events are ramping up to End Time completion. There's a reason: The stage is set, the curtain is about to go up...and so are we! The news events don't have to be manipulated to make them fit the Biblical prophetic narrative. When a prophecy says something specific and we see that take place in the news, we have to conclude that prophecy has either been fulfilled or is in the process of fulfillment. A case in point is events transpiring in and around Israel right now. The following information could lead to the fulfillment of two prophecies...

A few weeks ago it was revealed that Syria provided the terrorist group Hezbollah advanced SCUD missiles. Hezbollah is headquartered in Damascus, Syria and has a base in southern Lebanon directly on Israel's northern border. A short time after the SCUD delivery Major General Paul Vallely, who has appeared numerous times on Fox News reported that a Russian submarine flying an Iranian flag docked at Beiruit, Lebanon. Material was off-loaded by personnel wearing protective chemical suits. This information coupled with the SCUD delivery makes it probable that a preemptive chemical attack on Israel is imminent. Since Israel has previously warned Syria that if Israel is attacked by Hezbollah they will hold Damascus accountable, an Israeli retaliation with nuclear weapons could bring about the destruction of Damascus as described in Isaiah 17:1.

When the war of Gog/Magog occurs as described in Ezekiel 38-39 a question is asked by other countries in the world when they see the invasion occur: "Art thou come to take a spoil?" (Ezekiel 38:13) It's never been known precisely what type of booty Israel would have which could urge on an all out invasion such as the Bible describes. The CIA World Factbook says of them:

"Israel has a technologically advanced market economy. It depends on imports of crude oil, grains, raw materials, and military equipment. Despite limited natural resources, Israel has intensively developed its agricultural and industrial sectors over the past 20 years"

In other words, up to this point there has been nothing of a monetary value which another country would deem worthy of invasion. But then, a natural gas field was discovered off the coast of Haifa, and everything changed. Now, not only does Israel have enough natural gas to sustains itself, it's believed they're on the road to energy autonomy. So much so that Russia (Gog) has scrapped a natural gas pipeline which they were going to run to Israel and is now in the position of not only losing money for the gas Israel would have purchased, but they will now have to compete against Israel for natural gas exports on the world market! This could very well be the "spoil" that's referred to in the Ezekiel prophecy, and it's being set up right now.

As I said, none of these news events have to be manipulated to make them fit the Biblical narrative for prophetic events of the Last Days. There is no more reason to know that our redemption is near than the events we're seeing occur in the news everyday. If you don't know the Lord Jesus as your Savior please visit our page The Truth. And do it quickly...time is short.

"So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." (Matthew 24:33)

Keith

06-17-2010